The Pope loves Life

Benedict's notably quotable pro-life moments

“Each according to his or her possibilities, profession and
responsibilities, should feel in themselves an obligation to love and serve
life, from its beginning to its natural end. It is, in fact, everyone’s duty to
welcome human life as a gift to be respected, protected and promoted, even more
so when it is fragile and in need of attention and care, either before birth or
when it is in its final stages.”

Angelus address, Feb. 3, 2008

‘At Every Stage of Existence’

“The destruction of human embryos, whether to acquire stem
cells or for any other purpose, contradicts the purported intent of
researchers, legislators and public health officials to promote human welfare.
The Church does not hesitate to approve and encourage somatic stem-cell
research: not only because of the favorable results obtained through these
alternative methods, but more importantly because they harmonize with the
aforementioned intent by respecting the life of the human being at every stage
of his or her existence.”

Remarks to South Korea’s ambassador to the Holy See, Oct. 11, 2007

‘The Grace of Forgiveness’

“The Catholic community must offer support to those women
who may find it difficult to accept a child, above all when they are isolated
from their family and friends. Likewise, the community should be open to
welcome back all who repent of having participated in the grave sin of
abortion, and should guide them with pastoral charity to accept the grace of
forgiveness, the need for penance, and the joy of entering once more into the
new life of Christ.”

Meeting with Kenyan bishops, Nov. 19, 2007

‘Consider Conscientious Objection’

“I invite [you] to consider conscientious objection, which
is a right that must be recognized for your profession so you can avoid
collaborating, directly or indirectly, in the supply of products which have
clearly immoral aims, for example abortion or euthanasia. ... The biomedical
sciences are at the service of man. Were it otherwise, they would be cold and
inhuman. All scientific knowledge in the field of healthcare ... is at the
service of sick human beings, considered in their entirety, who must have an
active role in their cure and whose autonomy must be respected.”

Meeting with the International Federation of Catholic Pharmacists, Oct. 29,
2007

‘A Deep Wound in Society’

“The fundamental human right, the presupposition of every
other right, is the right to life itself. This is true of life from the moment
of conception until its natural end. Abortion, consequently, cannot be a human
right — it is the very opposite. It is a deep wound in society.”

“Regarding the grave sin of abortion or euthanasia, when a
person’s formal cooperation becomes manifest (understood, in the case of a
Catholic politician, as his consistently campaigning and voting for permissive
abortion and euthanasia laws), his Pastor [i.e. bishop] should meet with him,
instructing him about the Church’s teaching, informing him that he is not to
present himself for Holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective
situation of sin, and warning him that he will otherwise be denied the
Eucharist.”

“Selfishness and fear are at the root of (pro-abortion)
legislation. … We in the Church have a great struggle to defend life. ... Life
is a gift, not a threat.”

Comments to reporters on the papal plane headed for Brazil, May 9, 2007

‘These Values Are Not Negotiable’

“Worship pleasing to God can never be a purely private
matter, without consequences for our relationships with others: It demands a
public witness to our faith. Evidently, this is true for all the baptized, yet
it is especially incumbent upon those who, by virtue of their social or
political position, must make decisions regarding fundamental values, such as respect
for human life, its defense from conception to natural death, the family built
upon marriage between a man and a woman, the freedom to educate one’s children
and the promotion of the common good in all its forms. These values are not
negotiable. Consequently, Catholic politicians and legislators, conscious of
their grave responsibility before society, must feel particularly bound, on the
basis of a properly formed conscience, to introduce and support laws inspired
by values grounded in human nature. There is an objective connection here with
the Eucharist (see 1 Corinthians 11:27-29). Bishops are bound to reaffirm
constantly these values as part of their responsibility to the flock entrusted
to them.”

Apostolic exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis (On the Eucharist as the Source
and Summit of the Church’s Life and Mission), Feb. 22, 2007

‘Freedom to Kill Is Not True Freedom’

“The freedom to kill is not a true freedom, but a tyranny
that reduces human beings to slavery.”

Homily at the Basilica of St. John Lateran, May 7, 2005

‘Without Women Knowing’

“A violent attack is made on developing life by abortion
(with the result that there are 30 million to 40 million a year worldwide), and
to facilitate abortion millions have been invested to develop abortifacient
pills. Millions more have been budgeted for making contraception less harmful
to women, with the result that most chemical contraceptives on sale now act
primarily against implantation, i.e., as abortifacients, without women knowing
it. Who will be able to calculate the number of victims from this massacre?”

‘The Problem of Threats to Human Life’ by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger,
published in L’Osservatore Romano, April 8, 1991

‘Thou Shalt Not Kill!’

“As far as abortion is concerned, it’s part of the Fifth,
not the Sixth, Commandment: ‘Thou shalt not kill!’ We have to presume this is
obvious and always stress that the human person begins in the mother’s womb and
remains a human person until his or her last breath. The human person must
always be respected as a human person.”

Interview with German journalists prior to the Pope’s visit to Bavaria, Sept.
2006

‘A Descent Into Hell’

“When, as today, there is a market in human organs, when
fetuses are produced to make spare organs available, or to make progress in
research and preventive medicine, many regard the human content of these
practices as implicit. But the contempt for man that underlies it, when man is
used and abused, leads — like it or not — to a descent into hell.”

Address by Cardinal Ratzinger at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, 2001

‘Not Something Haphazard’

“At the origin of every human being there is not something
haphazard or chance, but a loving plan of God.”

Homily at the Fifth
World Meeting of Families

in Valencia, Spain, July
9, 2006

Published with a tip of the hat to the anonymous blogger behind
ProlifeQuotes.blogspot.com, on which these and many other memorable and useful
pro-life quotes are compiled.

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